For the second time in as many weeks, an NBA player for the New York Knicks found himself the victim of late-night crime.

Knicks forward Cleanthony Early was shot and robbed early Wednesday when cars driven by criminals surrounded the Uber carrying him and his girlfriend home from a strip club not long before dawn. On Dec. 19, teammate Derrick Williams was allegedly robbed of $750,000 in jewelry by two women he brought home from a nightclub before falling asleep.

Williams met his alleged robbers at a Meatpacking District nightclub, according to numerous reports, while out celebrating a win over the Philadelphia 76ers the previous night. He took the two women back to his apartment in Tribeca for more partying, but when he woke up the following afternoon, he noticed the women were gone — along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry.

Included in the missing items were a $145,000 Audemars Piguet watch and a diamond chain bearing the Hennessy logo, according to Deadspin. The New York Police Department subsequently released surveillance footage, below, showing two female suspects in the case.

Early's case is more frightening.

The second-year pro left a Queens strip club called CityScapes via Uber at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, sources told the Associated Press. Soon after, at least two other cars surrounded Early's Uber. Up to six men got out of those cars and demanded Early's valuables. Early gave up two gold chains, according to the AP, before being shot in the right kneecap.

The New York Post reported three cars surrounded Early's vehicle, six men robbed him and the player was even forced to give up the gold caps on his teeth.

"The most important thing is that it appears at least that he's going to still be with us and hopefully be back with our team soon," said Knicks coach Derek Fisher, who has now seen two of his players robbed after late-night partying in the span of just two weeks. "To what extent of the injury etc, we won't know that for now. But for sure to know that he's still here and doing relatively well, as well as you could be, I think we'll take that."

Several players, including Knicks teammate Kristaps Porzingis, wished Early well on Twitter.

'You can't chase the night'

Almost six years ago, back before he became a household name, then-ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons spun a little yarn from the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas. It was almost 3 a.m., closing time and a young NBA player wanted to keep partying. The young player was in a group with Simmons and a man known in the sports world as Worldwide Wes.

Wes is something of a mysterious legend in basketball circles — he gets name-dropped in Drake lyrics, seems connected to everyone in hoops and is admired as a swami of sorts by young ballers.

Youth, nightlife and money have always been a volatile combination, but the December robberies of Early and Williams follow another high-profile incident involving NBA players and New York City after-hours earlier this year. In April, Thabo Sefolosha of the Atlanta Hawks had his leg broken by NYPD officers outside a Manhattan nightclub. Sefolosha was tackled by officers outside the club shortly after a confrontation that involved another NBA player — Chris Copeland, then of the Indiana Pacers. Copeland, who was at the club separately from Sefalosha, had been stabbed and Sefolosha got mixed up in the aftermath.

From left: Paul Pierce, Stephen Jackons and Plaxico Burress.

Image: Steven Senne, Paul Sancya, Rob Carr/Associated Press

There is a much longer legacy involving sports stars and festive nights gone wrong, too. Just a few of the more famous examples: NBA star Paul Pierce was stabbed several times at a Boston nightclub in 2000; former NBA player Stephen Jackson drew notoriety after he "fired shots in the air in apparent self-defense after he was hit by a car outside a strip club" in Indiana in 2006; and NFL star Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a Manhattan nightclub in 2008.

You can't chase the night, as the old Worldwide West story goes. But — as Early found out in Wednesday's wee hours — sometimes the night chases you, surrounds your Uber, takes your gold and shoots you in the knee.

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